Once Leda Found an Egg

Maria Kulikovska is celebrated internationally for her bold feminist stance and provocative critique of the systemic violence inflicted on women’s bodies. Her work has been exhibited at prestigious institutions, including the Francisco Carolinum Museum in Linz, Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Ludwig Museum in Budapest, and The Albertinum in Dresden.

Kulikovska’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in personal and national histories. Her work reflects the traumatic consequences of war, forced migration, and the ongoing struggle for

self-expression and bodily autonomy. Born in Kerch, Crimea, Kulikovska was banned from her homeland following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Her political performances, which critique Russian aggression and the authoritarian regime, have placed her on Russia’s intelligence “blacklist,” subjecting her to surveillance and persecution. Despite these threats, she has continued to stage protest actions across Ukraine and Europe, amplifying her resistance to colonial and patriarchal structures.

Notable among her actions is Raft Crimea. A Displaced Parliament of Displaced and Act of Solidarity originated in Kyiv and have since been performed in Liverpool, Malmö, Vienna, and Barcelona. In 2014, the same year she was banned, Russian forces seized the international art center Izolyatsia in Donetsk, where Kulikovska’s work had been exhibited alongside artists like Cai Guo-Qiang and Pascale Marthine Tayou. The center was transformed into a prison and torture facility, and Kulikovska’s sculptures—casts of her own naked, vulnerable body—were destroyed. These casts, symbolic of resilience and vulnerability, were later found in fragments by prisoners.